Iyori Mochizuki
| birthday = August 13 | age = Unknown | gender = Male | height = 5'9" | weight = 134 lbs | eyes = Light Brown | hair = Blonde | blood type = AB- | affiliation = Gotei 13 | previous affiliation = Rukongai | occupation = Eighth Seat of the Tenth Division | previous occupation = Student | team = Tenth Division | previous team = None | partner = Unknown | previous partner = None | base of operations = Seireitei | marital status = Single | relatives = Unknown | education = Shinō Academy | status = Active | shikai = Norashimo | bankai = Not Yet Achieved }} Iyori Mochizuki (望月 イヨリ, Mochizuki Iyori) is the Eighth Seat of the Tenth Division in the Gotei 13, serving under Captain Tōshirō Hitsugaya. Appearance garb.]] Possessing a rather standard figure that would resemble a young adult, with a lean but well-built body consistent with a person whom practices martial arts daily, Iyori has ragged dirty blonde hair that extends down to his neck, with his bangs typically covering his right eye in most of his appearances. Iyori wears the standard uniform of the Shinigami, consisting of a black kosode and black hakama, tied together with a white obi. He also dresses with the general tabi sandals as well with a pair of white socks. In order to distinguish himself more as a member of the Tenth Division, he has also begun wearing a midnight blue scarf, reminiscent to the one worn by his Captain. It appears that this was not a coincidence, but instead done so as a homage to his Captain, as he deeply respects him as a leader and warrior role model. Personality Born to a family of modest farmers, Iyori was a quiet and kind boy who often refused to get involved with the affairs of others. He would remain indoors and read whatever books or reading material he could get his hands on or his parents managed to give him. Iyori is known to be have been quite fond of the "Sōgyō no Okotowari!" novel series written by Jūshirō Ukitake, which first sparked his desire to become a strong individual who would be capable of standing up to challenges and being a true hero. Though he tried not to get involved with others, despite very much wanting to make friends, many village children saw him as a target for bullying due to his sickly nature and weak demeanor. However, even in the face of such adversary, Iyori never once allowed others to insult him without attempting to fight back. Because of this, he would often get beat up and physically abused by them; a target of their unbridled anger whenever he refused to do what they asked of him, such as going off to steal food and candy from the various shops around the village. He felt a sense of shame in being unable to defend himself, and became quite withdrawn around others, even his own parents, despite loving them very much and viewing them as his only source of safety; as the bullies did not ever try to pick on him whenever they were around, and so it became almost instinctive that his parents were a sort of safe zone from all the bullying, even though they had not known about what was going on. As a result of the ongoing bullying, Iyori eventually became afraid to even go outside, for fear of being further bullied. However, he could not avoid them forever, and continued dealing with the problem as much as he could without giving into their incessant actions. The death of his parents at the hands of a Hollow and him being incapable of protecting them became a traumatic event in the young boy's life, and became the driving force behind his motivation to become stronger, in order to prevent such incidents from occurring again. He is extremely protective of his fellow comrades and refuses to allow anybody in need of help to be harmed, often viewing all of those he wishes to protect as though he were given another chance to protect his parents. During such moments, he actually notes the visage of his parents surrounding those he has vowed to defend from the perceived threat, though quickly dismisses the vision as simply that: a mirage. It can be said to be a psychological case of misplaced guilt, vowing to protect all the people he possibly can in order to subconsciously atone for the guilt he feels for his failures in the past. Additionally, he has a very low opinion of bullies within the division ranks, often coming to the aid of unseated officers whom are subjected to the taunts and verbal abuse from the higher-ranked. Iyori has no qualms about challenging an officer ranked even higher than him if it means to defend someone. As an officer within the Gotei 13 and a warrior Shinigami, Iyori developed a sense of self-respect once he managed to acquire a higher level of strength. He is confident of his abilities but understands his limits and admits when he is outclassed. However, when he believes he must protect someone or come to the aid of another, he will enter conflicts he has no hope of walking away alive; demonstrating a fearless attitude when it comes to threats and an almost unrivaled sense of courage, which are valuable assets for a warrior to possess. Iyori has a deep sense of respect for his Captain, Tōshirō Hitsugaya, whom saved the former from the Hollow that had destroyed large portions of his home village and killed off his parents. With the hopes of being acknowledged by him, Iyori constantly trains daily regardless of how exhausted he may get, wishing to be an asset to his Captain and one day even serve as his right-hand man. Iyori is incredibly naive, for all his intelligence, when it comes to those of the opposite sex. While he believes firmly in gender equality, he cannot help but try to do anything to be on a woman's good side, regardless of what tasks he may have to do for her. Being deeply enamored with the Lieutenant of his division, Rangiku Matsumoto, only seems to worsen this habit, as he often gets ensnared into preforming a variety of duties for Rangiku, ranging from paperwork she lazily ignores to the fetching of alcohol and serving said drinks at parties. He has managed to work up the confidence to confess his feelings of infatuation to her, displaying a greater sense of desire with her than other females, implying an even deeper feeling there than just simple admiration. It seems that these feelings also stem from a deep sense of respect that he has for her as a warrior, and badly wishes to impress her by becoming strong enough to be recognized as her equal. This is coupled with the fact that she has agreed to go out on a date with him if he manages to unlock the Bankai state of his Zanpakutō, though it is unknown how seriously she takes this pact. He enjoys writing and even has discussions with Captain Ukitake about how to go about writing novels, having been impressed with the latter's own writing skill. Iyori has a side-dream of writing a novel about a hero that doesn't surrender to evil regardless of the odds against him, hoping to inspire other children that have gone through the same form of bullying to stand up for themselves and not allow themselves to become victims. History Iyori was born to a couple of poor farmers that cultivated the crops in a village located somewhere in the middle sections of Rukongai. As a young boy, he was quite often ignored by many of the other children, whom engaged in rambunctious activity all throughout the village. It was due to this that he spent most of his days indoors and developed quite a frail and sickly demeanor, which only worsened when he was the subject of taunting among others his age. Despite this, he was argumentative, and refused to allow himself to be picked on. Of course, the end result was that he was physically beaten by these bullies. The internal shame he felt from these interactions prevented him from ever telling his parents how he gained his fresh injuries on almost a daily basis, often making up stories about tripping and falling in a variety of locations. This continued well into his teen years, slowly gaining some form of physique that allowed him to at least protect himself from heinous injury from the constant bullying. Though he knew the only way to stop the bullying would be to go outside and train his body to fend off his attackers, he was afraid to do so. Even though he stood up to his bullies, he still retained the fear of being pummeled and inflicted with severe pain. It was some years later that a Hollow had attacked the village. Many people were devoured and killed by the beast, including both of Iyori's parents and even the bullies whom had attacked him on a daily basis. He could only stare at the beast's empty eye sockets, hidden away by its frightening white mask, as the monster soon set its sights upon Iyori himself. Tried as he could, he was unable to outrun the Hollow, and the beast managed to catch up to him on the outskirts of the village. However, before being able to swoop in and devour the young Iyori's soul, a warrior dressed in black with hair as white as the snow arrived and slayed the monster with a single stroke of his mighty katana. As if a hero flew in to save the day, his eyes looked on with admiration at the Shinigami that had managed to vanquish the threat that had just a couple minutes before took the lives of his very parents. The event deeply affected the young Iyori, whom now had no connection to the village with his parents gone and no friends to count on. His failure, most of all, to protect his own parents, the only people in his life whom he could count on to feel safe and secure, traumatized the young boy to the point of nearly breaking down. But the Shinigami, understanding the pain he was going through, attempted to console him. The Shinigami, whom was young as a child just as Iyori was, quickly took note afterwards of the latter's spiritual potential and asked if he was willing to return with him to the Seireitei where he would receive personalized training in the combat arts that would enable him to become stronger and to prevent tragedies like this from happening ever again. Before agreeing to go, he asked for the young Shinigami's name, to which the latter answered: Tōshirō Hitsugaya, the Third Seat of the Tenth Division in the Gotei 13. He scored in the average percentiles for almost all sections of the entrance examination, a feat considered quite impressive given his lack of knowledge of the finer aspects of the Shinigami; though it was suggested that Hitsugaya did help him study and prepare for it. As a result, he was placed into the intermediate classes. He quickly took to swordsmanship under Shūtetsu Nagamoso and found that he did possess quite a knack for it due to the strength he had developed in his arms due to the daily rounds of bullying he had to contend with. During these classes, he even managed to actually make friend for once in his life, and outside of classes, he often engaged in sparring practices with them using wooden bokken. After completing the full course load in five years time, due to his diligence and hard work, Iyori was given the position of Eighth Seat in the Tenth Division; the same company where Hitsugaya, the man he respected greatly, had become newly promoted as the division's Captain. It was also during his time that he developed an intense infatuation with the long-time Lieutenant of the same company, Rangiku Matsumoto. Synopsis Equipment *'Ankle Weights:' Though hidden by his hakama, Iyori wears a set of ankle weights around his legs that each possess the mass of five kilograms. Powers & Abilities High Spiritual Power: Iyori was born with a slightly higher degree of reiatsu, though it did not make itself present until his life-threatening run-in with the Hollow that massacred many people in his village. It became great enough that Tōshirō Hitsugaya was able to recognize his potential for Shinigami training and subsequently advised him to attend Shinō Academy to learn proper control over his inner powers. Despite being a mere Eighth Seat, Iyori has demonstrated levels of power matching those of the Fifth or Fourth Seat, as he is noted to often train among them during daily exercises. It is a light blue when intensified and released outwards, having the slight effect of lowering the temperature around him when he fights by roughly fifteen to twenty degrees when unleashed at full force, as theorized by Momo Hinamori. This is due to his Zanpakutō possesses the element of ice, which manifests itself through Iyori's spiritual power, and thus makes the space around him slightly colder as a result when fighting. Average Strength: From a young age, Iyori's lack of outdoor activity resulted in him having a rather frail body. He was the subject of constant bullying by the village kids, and after years of this abuse, he eventually gained enough of a body strength to at least resist serious injury. However, it was not until his training at the academy that he began to truly condition his body to decent levels of strength. His daily training has allowed him to develop an average level of physical strength consistent with those of the higher ranked officer seats. He can lift boulders of a considerable weight and size, carrying them as part of his training routine up the mountain path of the third Rukongai district. Once reaching the top of the mountain, he lowers the boulders and conditions his fingers, palms, and elbows through repeated strikes against the boulders, until he manages to break them apart. As of recently, his strength has reached the level where he can shatter these rocks after a repeated series of at least three solid blows. *'Removal of Weights:' Iyori has fastened ankle weights to both legs that each carry about five kilograms a piece, which when removed, enables him to achieve access to his full strength. However, as he has just begun this weight training, the removal of them does not result in any significant increases of brute strength. It is his hopes that after continuing his training with these ankle weights, his physical strength may eventually reach the level of a Lieutenant with enough time. Enhanced Durability: Subsequently developed through the bullying he suffered at the hands of village children during his own time as a kid combined with his physical strength training, Iyori has built up a high tolerance of pain through conditioning certain parts of his body. As such, he can be struck down by a Hollow of average size and stand back up, seemingly unfazed; though he has mentioned that he can't keep up with constant blows to his being before succumbing to the pain. Due to the nature of his Zanpakutō and his experience with his own spiritual power having the effect of slightly reducing the temperature around him, he is not outright affected by the release of his Captain's Hyōrinmaru, but has noted his discomfort due to the immense degree of cold. Iyori has subsequently stated that he would not be able to withstand Hitsugaya's Bankai for a long duration of exposure. It is suggested that this may improve once he has further enhanced his physical capabilities as well as learned more about the nature of his own Zanpakutō which carries the same elemental ability. Expert Swordsmanship Specialist: Perhaps his most greatest skill is his expertise in swordsmanship, something he is quite proud and boastful over, and becomes quite insulted when his skill is demeaned. He trained directly under Shūtetsu Nagamoso and learned the basics of Zanjutsu in the intermediate class at the academy. Iyori is somewhat clumsy due to the suffering of constant physical abuse by his bullies in his home village, having developed only brute strength in order to fend off assault without the grace or elegance needed to pull off masterful and precise strikes. However, even with this, he makes up for this weakness by utilizing powerful footwork to preform consecutive strikes with the sword without leaving himself blatantly vulnerable to those of equal or lower skill class. He does appear to have enough of an ability that he can fend of at least three low-level Hollows on his own. *'Ryōdan' (両断, "Bisection"): One of the only two named techniques he knows how to execute with enough of a proficiency that it can be properly applied to real-time combat, it is a technique which is derived from kendō principles. Simply put, by grasping the hilt of his sword with both hands and swinging it downwards, he can preform a strike with nearly double the strength of a normal one-handed swing. It has been shown powerful enough to slice through the right shoulder of an average-level Hollow. However, the flaw of his rendition of the Ryōdan lies in the openings he unintentionally creates due to putting forth his entire being with the strike and not thinking about what areas of his body remain unprotected and off-guard. Iyori is unable to pull off any form of immediate parry or successive strike following the use of the Ryōdan, meaning he is ideally open to enemy attack. *'Agitowari' (顎割, "Chin/Jaw Splitting"): The second named technique Iyori is capable of utilizing in actual combat, it is a technique derived from iaidō principles, which involves the drawing of the sword in a rapid speed allowing the user to catch the enemy by surprise and deliver a decisive blow. In order to avoid cutting his own leg, which is a present danger in novices of the swordsmanship arts, he makes sure to always keep his right leg forward before drawing the blade quick enough to use the Agitowari. Due to only using his arm muscles when using Agitowari, the strike is severely weaker than the Ryōdan in comparison, which makes use of the entire body's strength as per kendō's techniques. Despite this, it is still sufficiently effective in dealing fatal damage to Hollows, especially when making contact with their masks. Similar to the weakness in the Ryōdan technique, Iyori's broad motion of swinging his blade all the way across makes his entire torso vulnerable to an enemy's attack. Also, because he puts his entire being into the strike without considering his next move, he becomes incapable of responding to a threat immediately. :*'Hanashi Agitowari' (反足顎割, "Opposite-Foot Chin/Jaw Splitting"): A rather simple variation of the Agitowari technique, the Hanashi Agitowari works by Iyori stepping forward with the left foot rather than the right. The difference in this simplistic action has to do with the fact that stepping forward with the right foot would only allow access to his upper body muscles when swinging forth the blade, more specifically his arm's muscles, thus meaning the strike only will possess the overall strength of Iyori's arms. However, by stepping with the left leg, he adds the strength of his entire body via the twisting motion of the hip, which adds a significant degree of power to the technique. Despite this benefit, it is not without danger, as the use of the left leg when drawing the blade leaves his leg vulnerable to cutting, and quite often, due to Iyori's somewhat sloppy form and lack of grace, this is almost always the case. Understanding that he will almost always end up cutting himself when using this technique, he only utilizes the Hanashi Agitowari as a last resort, when he must defeat his enemy even at the cost of his life. Average Hakuda Competency: Being the victim of constant bullying in his home village, Iyori unconsciously developed a level of hand-to-hand combat allowing him to at least fend off their own assaults. He eventually learned to even block the blows from wooden logs after being struck so many times by them, and over time, he managed to even learn how to enter an opponent's space and strike at them. His fighting style at this point resembled a sort of rough form of western boxing, as all of his counterattacks were different hand strikes and punches. However, after training at the academy, he learned to refine his hand-to-hand skills somewhat, allowing him to at least spar with officers of the same class as him without requiring a weapon. Ever since he began specialized training at the academy, he has added kicks to his repertoire, allowing him to fight with his entire body when engaging in Hakuda. Though he has gained this competency, he has yet to learn how to apply these skills in real-time combat, especially not against Hollows. Because of the self-realization that he would never become that great at Hakuda, he has seemingly forgone attempting to perfect his skills in order to focus more on his swordsmanship. Despite this, he does practice every day and always engages in sparring sessions in order to maintain his current level of ability in the combat field. Shunpo Novice: Because he is clumsy and rigid in his motions, his subsequent ability with Shunpo has taken a massive toll. He cannot engage in repeated movements with the flash step without showing signs of clear exhaustion, only capable of short bursts of speed every now and again, making it difficult to transverse long distances with it. Iyori tends to tire out after attempting around fifteen or so Shunpo steps in succession, with his motions getting all the more uncoordinated to the point that tripping on his own steps becomes a very real possibility. Zanpakutō Norashimo (ノラ霜, "Stray Hoarfrost") is the name of Iyori's Zanpakutō. In its sealed form, the sword takes the shape of a standard katana with a forest green hilt bearing a unique stripe pattern, possessing a circular golden tsuba whose edges are turned upwards. It is carried in a light green sheath and tied at the obi belt. His Zanpakutō is an ice-type. *'Shikai:' It is released by the command, "Bind" (縛る, shibaru). Upon activating, the blade begins to become crooked and bent running up the length of the blade, resembling a zig-zag sort of pattern in its new shape. Because of this strange form, Iyori has noted that being struck by the rigid blade of Norashimo is exceeding painful and can cause rather serious injuries if a fatal enough strike is delivered without requiring much physical strength behind the attack. :Shikai Special Ability: Norashimo's power is to generate bright blue projectiles, reminiscent of the Sōkatsui spell in shape and consistency, which can freeze any surface they happen to strike. Upon being struck, the target is engulfed in frost ice crystals that essentially serve to ensnare the target and keep them bound together or to the surface to hinder their motions. Norashimo's projectiles have the dual effect of reducing the victim's body temperature by roughly one degree each and every time they are struck by the attacks. However, this effect does not last long and will not lead to any significant decrease in temperature unless the assaults by Norashimo's ability are consistent and successive. *'Bankai:' Not Yet Achieved. He is readily determined to obtain this state after being told by Rangiku, after the former had confessed his feelings to her, that she would agree to go out on a date with him if he manages to reach the Bankai state. It is worth noting that she is unaware of the fact that he even knows his Zanpakutō's name, implying that she made this deal with him knowing it was most likely never going to happen. Quotes Behind the Scenes His surname is based off of Rokurō Mochizuki, a member of Yukimura Sanada's "Sanada Ten Braves".